News archive (2011 - 09)

29 September Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces General Sverker Goranson on an official visit arrived to the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania and met the Minister Rasa Juknevičienė and Chief of Defence Lieutenant General Arvydas Pocius; they discussed bilateral and regional Nordic-Baltic co-operation and development opportunities.

During the visit Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces also visited the Energy Security Centre in Vilnius, Lithuanian Grand Duke Butigeidis Dragoon Training Battalion and Naval Forces in Klaipeda.

27 September at the invitation of the Chief of Defence of Lithuania, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR) General Richard Shirreff visited the Ministry of National Defence, he met the Defence Minister Rasa Juknevičienė, Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Arvydas Pocius other representatives of the ministry.

26 September Minister of National Defence Rasa Juknevičienė expressed gratitude to the French Ambassador Francois Laumonier finishing his tenure in Lithuania for the active work in Lithuania and in particular for the efforts in the development of bilateral defense cooperation.

Minister of National Defence Rasa Juknevičienė and her accompanying delegation on 22 - 23 September will participate in the informal meeting of European Union (EU) Defence Ministers in Wroclaw (Poland).

At the meeting Defence Ministers will discuss proposals regarding the EU operational planning capabilities’ strengthening, as well as possible actions to improve the efficiency of the EU Battle Groups and to encourage their use. In addition, the Defense Ministers will be briefed on situation in Libya, discuss further EU involvement in the operations in Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, cooperation strengthening possibilities with partners in the East.

September 16, Friday the Minister of National Defence Rasa Juknevicienė met with newly accredited Swedish Ambassador to Lithuania Cecilia Ruthström-Ruin and stressed the importance of Lithuanian and Swedish cooperation in the field of defence.

On 13 September, the ceremony of farewell with the Defence Attaché of Germany was held in the Ministry of National Defence In Vilnius. Commander of the Naval Forces Wolfgang Zoll who has been representing interest of the German Armed Frces for the last three years was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel of the Air Force Achim Neitzert.

The outgoing Commander Wolfgang Zoll was awarded by the Lithuanian National Defence Viceminister Vytautas Umbrasas with the National Defence System level Medal of Merit for his personal input in developing bilateral cooperation between the Lithuanian and German Armed Forces.

On 11 September, the airport was officially opened inChaghcharan, the capital of Ghor province. In order to commemorate the end of construction works, delegation was flown from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, to Chaghcharan. The airplane landed on a newly paved runway.

On 7-8 September, final Basic Police Patrol Training Course organised by Police Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (POMLT) took place in the Police Patrol Training Centre located in Chaghcharan, the province of Ghor. The number of attendees exceeded 50.

Training scenario, different situations and various tasks were based on real police patrol practice. Police students demonstrated their skills by performing foot patrol, operating in a checkpoint, checking the documents and vehicles of suspicious persons, and operating after falling into an ambush.

On 8 September, approx. at 1 PM, while the troops of a Lithuanian–led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) were on the way to a firing range, an improvised explosive device burst under the HMMWV cross-country vehicle. One Lithuanian and three Ukrainian troops were in the vehicle. Two members of Ukraine were slightly injured during the incident, while a Lithuanian troop suffered no harm.